Ethics Of Waterboarding

Torture is something that is known as wrong internationally. Torture is “deliberate, systematic or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting on the orders of authority, to force a person to yield information, to confess, or any other reason” (World Medical Association, 1975, pg.1). There is a general consensus that there is a right to be free from any kind of torture as it can be found in many different human rights treaties around the world. The treaties show that all of the thoughts about torture are pointing away from the right to torture someone no matter what the case

Imagine yourself in a dark room, lying on your back with a towel covering your face and so much water pouring over you that you feel like you could drown any second. Would this make you tell your interrogator the information they wanted to know? Interrogation and torture methods have changed over the years and are still changing to this day. Some methods of interrogation have been outlawed or have been proven to be ineffective. Police officers, CIA agents, and military authorities use various methods to obtain information from a suspect, there are many debates over which of these methods are effective. Many torture techniques can cause the suspect to give up inaccurate information just to make the interrogations end, but some are very effective

Torture is known as the intentional infliction of either physical or psychological harm for the purpose of gaining something – typically information – from the subject for the benefit of the inflictor. Normal human morality would typically argue that this is a wrongful and horrendous act. On the contrary, to deal with the “war on terrorism” torture has begun to work its way towards being an accepted plan of action against terrorism targeting the United States. Terroristic acts perpetrate anger in individuals throughout the United States, so torture has migrated to being considered as a viable form of action through a blind eye. Suspect terrorists arguably have basic human rights and should not be put through such psychologically and physically damaging circumstances.

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution says, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The fundamental idea of torture is to inflict mental or physical pain onto a suspect to coerce them into revealing information we desire. This tactic is illegal because it violates the Constitution, and in addition, it violates international agreements that our nation has committed itself to. The general provisions of the Geneva Conference of 1949 prevent the use of torture in warfare; the document specifically outlaws “Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating or degrading treatment…” By violating these laws, particularly the Constitution, our nation

Through out the history of the country, the U.S. have torture people for information. For example, Brown v. Mississippi a sheriff who questioned three African Americans, in the most heinous way. He hipped and hanged them for no true reason (Hickey, T., 2014). The

Historically waterboarding became a popular technique because “It causes great physical and mental suffering, yet leaves no marks on the body” (Weiner, 2007). Leaving no marks is a very big perk for someone committing a crime against humanity. With no physical evidence, there is little evidence that the victim was really subjected to the treatment. The CIA, no doubt, kept this in mind before authorizing the treatment of prisoners.

There are many forms of torture that have cycled through the ages and cultures. This common water based interrogation practice dates back to the 14th century. Water boarding has been referred to as “water torture”, “water cure” and “tormenta de toca” a phrase that denotes to a thin piece of fabric positioned over victim’s mouth. Water is then slowly poured over the fabric giving the victim a sensation of drowning. It can be very physically painful and psychologically difficult as well for the victim feels like he is dying, yet he is very much alive. It has been used by our country to apprehend extremely dangerous people and stop their planned attacks. The Human Events newspaper published an article quoting “Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee described waterboarding as one of the 10 “techniques” used to retrieve information from Abu Zubaydah, one of Osama bin Laden’s confidants”. Osama bin Laden is the man believed to being responsible for the attacks during 9/11. The interrogation of Abu Zubaydah with water boarding was a key approach to preventing future attempts of terrorism on our soil even though there were some that believed it was inhumane.

Another player in this global debate of enhanced interrogation is the United Nations itself. In May of 2005, the UN issued an 11 page panel report on the adhearance of the United States to the anti-torture treaty. In the report the UN said that the United States should stop the process of enhanced interrogation saying that it was “nothing more than torture”. The US should stop its interrogations of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan by military and civilian staff and prosecute any staff found to have used any of the techniques specific to the enhanced interrogation. The UN report stopped short of admonishing the United States as the US “has a very good record on human rights” , (19 May 2006) Torture was banned by the UN in 1948, in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which not only is

You wake up in a dimly-lit room laying down, your back flat on a cold table, facing unfamiliar men standing over you. You attempt to move, but your arms and legs are strapped down leaving you completely defenseless. Panicking, you begin to scream, but your screams are cut short as a wet cloth is laid over your face. You feel water being poured over the cloth and you begin choking; you can’t breathe; you are drowning. You are being waterboarded. What you just experienced was one of many common interrogation techniques used to pry information from suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay naval base. These techniques,

On December 9, 2014, a 528 page document was released to the public known as the “CIA Torture Report”. It contains details of the CIA’s (Central Intelligence Agency) “enhanced” interrogation. The document, which is actually a summary of the 6,700 page report states that the United States, has been torturing its detainees in foreign countries in order to get confessions or answers from them. The many tactics used by the CIA include but not limited to, facial and abdominal slaps, rectal “feeding” and/or rehydration, ice-water baths, sleep deprivation for more than a week, shackling in stress positions, isolation, sensory deprivation, water-boarding, and walling (being slammed against a wall repeatedly). Detainees were also told that their families would be harmed, and/or sexually assaulted. Many Americans are against this “enhanced” interrogation, others feel it is necessary.

The history of waterboarding goes back a lot further than most people even realize. The technique commonly referred to as "waterboarding" was first documented in the 14th century, but has been used on and off around the world since before the Spanish Inquisition1. The term waterboarding is actually a reference to two different techniques, with one of them being the more commonly used today. The first technique involves the pumping of water directly into a person's stomach. The other technique is the one most people think of when they hear the word waterboarding. This technique involves the placement of a cloth material over the mouth and a steady stream of water poured into the throat. Those steps lead to the person being interrogated experiencing a feeling as if they are drowning. This often leads to the unconsciousness of the interrogated. The person is awoken and the cycle is continued until

Is waterboarding suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay justifiable in order to save American lives? For years since the attacks on 9/11, prisoners suspected of terrorist actions have been treated poorly and taken to bases like Guantanamo Bay where they are interrogated and abused past levels of legality. This is upsetting how the United States government tortures people only suspected of terrorist activity. There have been many incidents where innocent people were accused of terrorist activity and harassed. After the bombing of the Boston Marathon, three innocent muslim men were put in custody to answer some questions on the bombing (Friedersdorf). The innocent men had done nothing wrong but the United States has a history of fighting terrorism in a very forceful way. Is it “okay” to question anyone without legal justification? In the US, the fear of terrorism has

Water is then applied to the cloth …[a]s this is done, the cloth is lowered until it covers the nose and mouth. Once the cloth is saturated and completely covers the nose and mouth, air flow is slightly restricted for 20 to 40 seconds due to the presence of the cloth, stimulat[ing] increased effort to breathe. This effort plus the cloth produces the perception of “suffocation and incipient panic,” i.e. the perception of drowning … This sensation of drowning is immediately relieved by the removal of the cloth. The procedure may then be repeated.” 20 (emergency presidential power pg 207)

Waterboarding is defined as “an interrogation technique in which water is forced into a detainee’s mouth and nose so as to induce the sensation of drowning” (Merriam-Webster). Today, waterboarding has become a very controversial topic, especially in the United States when it comes to both foreign policy and the moral dilemma of whether waterboarding should be legal.

After 9/11 attacks happened, With President Bush’s consent, the CIA constructed new interrogation techniques that mainly focus on using cruel and inhuman ways to breakdown the suspects in order to acquire information that the CIA believes they have and extract confessions for things that the CIA believes they have done. Some of the cruel interrogation techniques includes “sleep deprivation, slapping, subjection to cold and simulated drowning, known as "waterboarding".”( CIA Tactics ) Take waterboarding for example, “in which a person is strapped on a board with a rag or cloth covering his or her face and doused with water” (Does Waterboarding Have) During the waterboarding, water will get into lungs and it is proven that waterboarding will cause profoundly traumatic to not only lungs, but also brain damage from oxygen deprivation, not to mention the serious psychological damage afterwards. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of the key prisoners from